The oil and gas basins of Kazakhstan can be grouped into four revealed or prospective oil and gas provinces in
the Republic of Kazakhstan. Exploration in those provinces in which oil and gas has already been extracted had, by 2010, led to the discovery of more than 200
oil,
gas
Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...
, oil-and-gas and
condensate hydrocarbon accumulations. Of these, the
Kashagan, the
Tengiz and the
Karachaganak fields can be considered giants.
Oil and gas basins of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has a share in four oil and gas provinces:
1. The ''
Pre-Caspian Basin'' lies in the western part of the country, behind the
Mugodzhary mountains. The geology of this province is made up of
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
sediments covering a
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic ( ) is the third of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8 Mya, and is the longest eon of Earth's geologic time scale. It is preceded by the Archean and followed by the Phanerozo ...
basement.
* Southern Emba
* Northern Emba
* Eastern Emba
* Primorsk-Emba
* Northern Pre-Caspian
* Western Pre-Caspian
* Northern Caspian
* Central Pre-Caspian
2. The ''
Mangistau-Usturt Basin'' lies in the Mangistau and
Aktyubinsk areas of Kazakhstan.
* Southern Mangishlak
* Northern Buzashi
* Northern Usturt
3. The ''
Central Kazakhstan Basin'' lies in the eastern and southern areas of Kazakhstan.
* Southern Torgay
* Eastern Aral
* Syr-Darya
* Chu-Sarysu
* Teniz
* Alakol
* Balkash
* Zaysan
* Ily
4. The ''
Western Siberian Basin'' is in the northern and northeastern region of Kazakhstan, north of the Kokshetauskikh mountains. The geology is of a platform type, with a
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
cover overlying a Paleozoic basement.
* Northern Kazakhstan
* Irtish
The basins are located in six provinces of Kazakhstan: Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Kyzylorda and Mangystau provinces.
See also
*
Karachaganak Field - a
natural gas condensate field in Kazakhstan
*
Kashagan Field - an oil field located in Kazakhstan, situated in the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*
Khvalynskoye gas field - a conventional gas condensate field located in the Kazakhstan's sector in the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*
Kurmangazy oil field - an offshore oil field in the Kazakh section of Caspian Sea.
*
Tengiz Field - an
oil and gas field located in northwestern Kazakhstan's low-lying
wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s along the northeast shores of the Caspian Sea
References
External links
Kazakhstan's Gas: Export Markets and Export Routes by Shamil Yenikeyeff,
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, November 2008
Oil fields of Kazakhstan
Natural gas fields in Kazakhstan
Geology of Kazakhstan
Geography of Kazakhstan
Petroleum in Kazakhstan
{{Petroleum-stub